Re: New Project truck!!
 

more pictures....:but: :no: :but: :but:

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How 'bout just one pic of that engine bay with the 638!!!!

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Taking the truck FRIDAY to get the engine bay painted. Made a few panels for the fenders to cover up the ugly. Pics will follow when complete.

Re: New Project truck!!
 

Well the truck is still at the paint shop going on 3 weeks now. Not much has been done except the filler and a a little sealer added. Good thing Im not in a huge hurry!!

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No good updates yet. Truck is Still at the paint shop and no work has been done. Painter swears that it will be done this week though. It has been there a month today. I really should learn how to paint. I bought a few more pieces for the motor and should be ready to drop it in when and if I ever get it back. Sorry for the rant!!

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Ok, granted I never post. Hang in there with the waiting man. Sent mine off for cab corners and a dent repair in February of '05, told me 10 days. Almost April when I got it back. If you're painter is cool like mine was, he'll give you a break on the price.

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looking forward to seeing it finished:)

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Me too!! Wife is going to Florida in July. Staying home and takin the week off. Hoping to get the motor in no later than that week. Maybe not runnin but in!!

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Ok guys I got the truck back!! These pics are just a few minutes after I got it into the garage. I know alot of people will say why didnt you shave the whole firewall. Well I dont really want to go thru that much work. I wanted to clean up the firewall and remove the items that I will not be using. Wipers heat AC etc etc. As most of you know you are never done so I could have went on and on. My goal here is to build a clean weekend driver. While I may go to a few shows here and there my main intent is to have fun with it. Anyhow here are the pics. I had the firewall painted and the inside of the fenders. The painter also got the core support and up to the windsheild. I have the inner fenders and the brake booster that have been painted to mount also. I made some template of the inside of the fenders and had those painted too. Enjoy!!

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Your truck is really coming along. I was gonna come check it out when it got done, but the Marine Corps. had other plans, they didnt let me stay in KY. But I'm sure I'll see it at a show or two once I get some time to come home and crap. Cant wait to see the thing with the BB and that TKO in there. Need to buy you some real ****ty 15x12's and have some cheap tires mounted for the burnout pics that you absolutely must show.
Brandon

Re: New Project truck!!
 

Made a little more progress today. Got the rest of the frame cleaned up and primed/painted. Cleaned up under the cab also and used Duplicolor spray in bedliner like I did on the underside of the bed. Im pretty happy with the results. I got the motor mount inserts from Energy suspension to get bolted back in next. If anyone has done mounts on these trucks IT SUX!! Anyhow Im going to get a few odds and ends for the motor done before I drop it in. I got the intake bolted down today and pressed the balancer on.

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I got a little progress going last night. Sat the motor into place and bolted down. Didnt take to long at all. Going to start bolting up the flywheel and Tko tranny as soon as i order a few small parts from summit.

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Ok got the McLeod twin disc clutch put in. Also bolted up the Bellhousing as well. Cut a hole into the floor for the shifter. McLeod forgot to send my throwout bearing with the hydraulic assembly so Im at a stand still until then. Went to put my timing tab on and found that on a big block the lower bolt of the cover is used to mount the tab. So off the balancer comes to fit the tab. Got the tab mounted and remounted the balancer. Guess what the balancer hits the tab. Now I got the balancer off a again and have to take about a 3/16" off the back flat surface where it bolts to the chain cover. After I get that done I can put the serpentine setup on.

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Does that meen you are putting filler panels in there too? That will make a huge difference if you cover up some of those holes.

Engine bay is looking really nice...:metal:

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Exactly. The panel starts at the front of the inner fender and covers every hole to the rear by the firewall.

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That's what we did on my 77. It really helps smooth things out...:)

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any updates???

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Yes I have a few. I will go shoot a few pics here in a little. Meanwhile I am test fitting the gauges. I want to get some honest opinions on it first. I have a few thoughts about it but will keep them to myself and see if you guys have any.

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I like it, but I might paint the panel a satin black, just to make the gauges "pop" out at you a little more.

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Yeah I originally thought of doing that. The reason I went with the polished is that the engine is Black with polished pieces. I thought the polished panel would give it some pop.

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:agree: I think the polished look looks much better than a black look, I think it makes the cluster stand out more

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It does look good. I think either way, polished or black would have looked good.

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What were your thoughts on it, Phantom?

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I think the guages look great. Did you have to completely customize the dash or can you buy complete sets like the ones theysell at covanclassics.com?
:c2:

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My thought is that it may be too much. The gauges on the left look to set up higher though on the plate they are actually dead even. One thing I noticed was the left side of the bezel itself is rounded in the top left corner and the right side of it is more squared. Being that the two sides are diffrent it sticks out to me. I guess i will try black background and go from there.

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gauges are yet to be wired but It is all custom. I wasnt aware of a premade part for these trucks at all.

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Man, I didn't see that until you pointed it out, I feel:dum:

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I think if you paint the backplate for the guages black and put it in, you'll be able to get over the slight dimension differences.

Here's the one I did in my Malibu Wagon.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...o/DSC01871.jpg

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Well as you may or may not be able to tell i have got the dash into the truck. I put a dash from a 1997 truck into this 1992 truck. I also had to do some fab and fit the column from the 97 into the truck also. You would think it is a bolt in deal but the 92 column and the 97 are so diffrent it is unreal. I got the truck loaded on the trailer tonight and at 7:30am I am headed to Bowling Green KY to drop the truck off. A guy that works for Holley will be fabbing up a custom seat of long tubes with 2" primaries and 3.5" collectors. From there he will be installing the complete exhaust exiting in the front of the rear tire. I will using a HOOKER muffler on each side. Future plans are to have the exhaust Jet coated once I have tuned the motor and have some run time on the engine. I will attach a few pics of his various work if i can find it.

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Phantom....great truck. I am always looking forward to your progress pics. Glad to here you are to the point of the exhaust. One question I have though, is why are you running the exhaust in front of the rear tires? The reason I ask sithat a few guys around here have done the same thing and have regretted it. It is fine for in town cruising, but they have found out that on the road at highway speed, the exhaust tends to drone and makes it almost impossible to talk in the vehicle. Some can tolerate it and some can't. Don't get me wrong, I am not telling you how to do it as you have done all the right things on your build, but if you have never rode in one with the exhaust in front of the tires, you may want to rethink it. But if you have and like it....:metal: BTW..if you haven't heard this before...FANTASTIC TRUCK!! LOL!!!

Kevin

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Kevin the exhaust decision is more of a last resort. The ladder bar suspension leaves very little room to put the exhaust over the rear axle. I had the exhaust previously dump right under the truck with a single 40 series and a turndown. That was VERY annoying. I hope to get the exhaust actually exit just under the bed before the tire on each side. With the BBC 496 I dont expect to do alot of talking!! The cam is pretty lopey so we will see. I have some progress pics i just need to resize them.

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Still have not got the truck back from getting headers built. I am hoping he will finish up this week or so. We settled on 2-1/8" primaries for the headers though. Ill post some pics if he sends me some progress. Im getting stir crazy without the truck here! Going to buy my fuel cell and pump this week I guess.

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A few progress pics. Not done but its a start!!

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Very good looking project, that dashboard swap was a great idea, clean lines. those headers look very tight, a few runs down a track they might come back with dents from the frame.
Keep up the good work!

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I would paint the panel around the gauges the same color as the dash pad. Your not trying to match your motor, you want it to flow with your interior...:)

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Here is a update pic of the pass side header. It isnt finished yet but going to be tig welded.

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Looking good, where did you get your header parts from? Does it look like there is enough room that 2 1/4" primaries would fit between the block, A-Arms and Frame? I was thinking about going to that size on my truck.

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Headers are being built by a guy that works for Holley in Bowling Green KY. I assume he gets his parts through them as they do exhaust parts as well. 2 1/4 headers are HUGE. Im not sure why you would need more than 2 1/8" which is what mine are ending up at.

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I was reading back thru some previous postings and thought I would comment....When I swapped my 4.3 for a 5.7 into my '93, I bought mounts and figured I would have the V8 sitting in the truck the same evening. WRONG!!!! I started about 4:00 in the afternoon when I got home from work and about 8:00 I had both mounts in. I have a shoulder prosthesis somy shoulder does not pivot as a normal shoulder would so that added to the job. I finally called a buddy of mine over after a couple of hours and we both still struggled / fought with the mounts. Absolutely one of the worst designs GM ever had. Cage nuts ar welded nuts and bolt from the top would have been a way better solution.. If you really look at the design the assemblers at the plant have to shove their arm into the crossmember before anything is put on it just to nut the mounts. They must be the first thing that goes on.
Phantom.....Looking forward to seeing your truck in a magazine or two after alll of the work that has gone into it. Also a word to the wise. Just as soon as the truck is mobile, get it appraised and insured. With all of the internet publicity that it has been getting, you can't take a chance that some a-hole is just waiting in the bushes. And don't spare any expense on a top notch alarm system with LoJack. That way the truck can be traced by GPS. If not that, then by a remote switch...two caged Cobras from under the seat and a .44 pops out from under the steering column. LOL!!!
If I may speak for others, you are a definate influence and inspiration to the truck community. I have been working on my '93 practically all summer off and on with repaint, etc. It has not been without problems. Enough as a matter of fact to really hate working on it. But after sitting and reading and re-reading this thread, it kind of lights a fire under my butt to get back out in the garage. And again I must say...GREAT BUILD!!! You have done a fantastic job with the buiild and a super job with recording it with pics and explanations. Always looking forward to the next set of pics.

Kevin

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I have to totally agree with what Kevin has said. The energy you have put into this project and the posting to keep us updated has been great for all of us that is slacking. It just shows what you can do by just putting in quality time ever so often and that projects such as this, do not and will not happen overnight.

As for your reply- "I'm not sure why you would need more than 2 1/8" ... Maybe 572 cid

Bill